Mike Koenigs is our first video guest on Healthcare Elsewhere, the most popular Medical Tourism show globally. Mike is a successful entrepreneur, 4 time #1 best selling author, software developer and world class trainer of enterpreneurs. His journey of surviving colon cancer is inspiring and Mike shares some very useful and blunt advice on how to survive a life threatening disease. His personal circle of friends include Deepak Chopra among others and his research eventually brought him to the Duke Cancer Institute for his cancer treatment. This is part 1 of 2.

Incidentally, John Cote’s wife Jennifer went to the Duke Cancer Institute as well for an experimental cancer vaccine over 25 years ago that she credits with saving her life from terminal cancer.

Mike’s wife Vivian created a fantastic foundation called Just Like My Child and they do a ton of work in Africa to make the world a better place. They have raised millions of dollars and Vivian has wisely spent it on very impressive programs like the Girl Power Project among others. Jennifer and I support this foundation several times a year and it is money well spent.

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Shaveta Dhanda was born with a deformed hand but did not let that stop her from attaining a Masters degree and starting her own company as an adult. She tells the story of how the loss of her parents compelled her to start a business that would help people find high quality healthcare at an affordable price. During the interview, Shaveta shares a story of how she helped her very first patient and how she has created a service built around compassion and trust that is patient centric. Additionally she shares how she founded the 361 Healthcare Group and another initiative to help people with organ transplant needs.

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The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

“A large team of researchers with members from several universities and hospitals in the U.S. has developed a sequencing platform that generates “clinical-grade” data using whole exome sequencing (WES) from small amounts of DNA extracted from clinical tumor samples. In their paper published in the journal Nature Medicine, the team describes their new method and how it might soon be used in routine clinical practice.”

In 2003, Host John Cote and his wife Jennifer decided to adopt three children, a sibling group of a girl and two boys who became their new family from Poland. In this episode, John tells the story of their adoption journey, the medical issues they encountered and how their son Peter underwent Cochlear Implant surgery to repair his deafness just 3 weeks after arriving in the United States with his new family.

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The Resources

The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

What if doctors could grow a new working inner ear from a person’s own skin cells? Or repair the damaged inner ear from within?

Today’s Medical Breakthrough comes from Stanford University, “Solving this profound mystery is the driving force behind stem cell research and the promise of tissue engineering in otolaryngology. While hearing aids and cochlear implants can provide good recovery of hearing function, the development of a biological method to repair the damaged cochlea has the potential to restore normal hearing without any type of prosthesis. By mimicking the steps involved in the formation of embryonic mouse ears, Stanford scientists have produced stem cells in the laboratory that look and act very much like hair cells, the sensory cells that normally reside in the inner ear. If they can generate hair cells in the millions, it could lead to significant scientific and clinical advances along the path to curing deafness in the future.”

Jennifer and I very hopeful that this technology happens quickly so Peter can have the best possible hearing in the near future.

Vishal Loroia is the CEO of UniHealth, a medical tourism facilitation company in Delhi, India that helps people from around the world find the best options for medical treatments in India at a very affordable price. They help over 1,000 patients per year find high quality medical treatment. About half of their patients come from Iraq however they serve people from all over the world.

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The Resources

The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

Researchers Restore Grasp Ability in Paralyzed Hand

“(Medical Xpress)—For the first time scientists have been able to restore the ability to grasp with a paralysed hand using spinal cord stimulation. There is currently no cure for upper limb paralysis, where there has been damage to the nerves which send messages to the muscles from the brain, such as happens after a stroke or spinal injury.

But now Wellcome Trust-funded researchers at Newcastle University, working with macaque monkeys, have shown that by connecting the brain to a computer and then the computer to the spinal cord, it is possible to restore movement. The discovery opens up the possibility of new treatments within the next few years which could help stroke victims or those with spinal cord injuries regain some movement in their arms and hands.”

Curtis Smith heard a loud pop while working in the back yard and hurt his back in 2013. He had hoped that with time it would heal itself but eventually he discovered that he had a serious injury that eventually forced him out of work and unable to live without pain. He did some research in the U.S. to find the best solution however he soon discovered that his surgical options were limited with Artificial Disk Recovery since the procedure is limited to one disk in the U.S but he needed three of them replaced. Not only that, the costs were substantial so Curtis and his wife knew they had to find another way.

Eventually he found his answer in Germany and we were fortunate to interview him from the hospital just days after his spinal surgery that will change his life! This is the first time we were able to interview someone so close to their surgical date and it is a very informative and fun interview. Enjoy!

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The Resources

The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

Compound reverses symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease in mice, research shows

Today’s Medical Breakthrough comes from Saint Louis University researchers. “A molecular compound developed by Saint Louis University scientists restored learning, memory and appropriate behavior in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, according to findings in the May issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. The molecule also reduced inflammation in the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. It reversed learning and memory deficits and brain inflammation in mice that are genetically engineered to model Alzheimer’s disease,” Farr said.”

Donna Fox was involved in a car accident in 2009 that did significant damage to her back. After suffering through years of debilitating pain she decided to get an Artificial Disk Replacement but she needed 2 disks replaced and that procedure is not authorized in the U.S. She ended up traveling to Spain to get the surgery and saved a very significant amount of money. Amazingly, the titanium disks they used were designed and manufactured in the U.S. but she could not get the surgery done there because the FDA had only approved one This surgery has literally changed Donna’s life and she is now pain free.

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The Resources

You can email questions to Donna at DonnaFox@cox.net. Please be respectful of her time, she is a busy entrepreneur!

The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

A new way to beam power to medical chips deep inside the body

“A Stanford electrical engineer has invented a way to wirelessly transfer power deep inside the body, and use this power to run tiny electronic medical gadgets such as pacemakers, nerve stimulators, or new sensors and devices yet to be developed.

The discoveries reported Monday May 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) culminate years of efforts by Ada Poon, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, to eliminate the bulky batteries and clumsy recharging systems that prevent medical devices from being more widely used.”

Discover how Sagar Brahmbhatt ‘s company, HealthPlacid MediInnovations helped an English woman find treatment to overcome her kidney problem along with other specialities. Many surgeries and treatments in India can be taken care of for as little as one tenth of the cost in Europe or North America. Sagar and his team have taken the time to research and partner with over 160 healthcare providers and hospitals around the world to help with aftercare, which is a very important part of any procedure or treatment.

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The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

“A potent dose of engineered measles virus has been shown for the first time to have completely wiped out a woman’s cancer, US scientists reported this week.”

“Here we have got a therapy that you give once, and the outcome can be long-term remission of cancer,” said lead author Stephen Russell, a hematologist who co-developed the therapy described Wednesday in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal.

“We believe it can become a single shot cure.”

One of the coolest parts of this is the tracking of the virus that Doctors can use to verify its efficacy.

“However, using advanced imaging studies, doctors were able to track the path of the measles virus in her body and found it was indeed attacking the areas where tumors were growing.”

In May of 2014, Steven Strotman and his wife Cheryl started researching how much it would cost to get a battery of wellness tests to check on their overall health. As a retired couple they were mindful of the costs since they part of a self funded group. When they received the initial quote for just one test at over $700 each, they decided they needed to find some other options. After doing some research online, Steven came across a North Carolina based medical tourism company that offered the solution he was looking for. After researching that company, checking on the safety and political stability in Costa Rica on Wikipedia along checking out the medical facility where they would be receiving their tests, they decided that the time was right to travel.

After having a wonderful experience which included a short vacation, they have decided to go back for their next set of tests later in the year.

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The Resources

The Onwards Medical Breakthrough

Today, the majority of cancers are detected on the macroscopic level, when the tumor is already composed of millions of cancer cells and the disease is starting to advance into a more mature phase. But what if we could diagnose cancer before it took hold- while it was still only affecting a few localized cells? It would be like putting a fire out while it was still just a few sparks versus after having already caught on and spread to many areas of the house.